What to do when a boss refuses to pay you

[Liara Covert]

Imagine you were in a foreign country and one of the office directors that employed you decided to deny knowledge of your visa and opted not pay you what was agreed. Since a visa sponsor has a contract, this isn't supposed to happen. If it was you, what would you do?

I've known a few cases where:

1) the foreign employee could act as a creditor, approach a government office, have the office shut down and liquidated. That may seem extreme, but the individuals got paid.

2) hiring an employee lawyer enabled a person to bring the issue to court. IN that case, they could pay lawyers. Yet, going to court wouldn't guarantee payment.

[Nico Kempe]

I'd first find out how the whole visa and work thing works, and what my options were.
Then I'd probably search for low-cost or free legal help. Nowadays there are several low-cost/free phone numbers you can call for legal help, and the internet offers a ginormous amount of info and even help ofcourse.

But right now, I can't say what I'd do, because I don't really understand the post..

[Liara Covert]

Thanks for your posting. A friend has asked me the question. My own past experiences in the Netherlands and France were not always positive. I think each situation is different. I'm interested in learning other stories and how people dealt with unexpected obstacles.

Years ago, I worked in the Netherlands for a summer. Before leaving my home country (Canada), I paid a Dutch agency based in Canada which was supposed to facilitate the paperwork necessary for my work visa. I received the visa and arrived in the Netherlands where I was instructed to go to the police department. When the police saw my passport, they told me that the document authorized me for a "staje" but not to work officially and be paid. The agency I had dealt with supposedly had 4 offices in the Netherlands. When the police tried phoning each of the numbers, they discovered 3 phone numbers had been disconnected and the fourth number led to an office which was not at all helpful. In essence, there was a difference between what I was told before I arrived in the country and the reality I was to face. I also had a slight language barrier. (I ended up working "under the table." )

While in France, at another point in my history, I worked for an organisation which didn't live up to its obligations and took advantage of my vulnerability. Legal aid didn't help me. I spoke the local language yet still had to go without being paid. I simply found another internship and learned from the other situation. It was character-building in its own way yet, nothing like the previous Dutch situation I had encountered where I wasn't paid.

[Nico Kempe]

It seems then that the Dutch agency that arranged the work visa was pulling a scam on you. There's not much you can do about that I'm affraid. You can file a police report against the agency, but legally it won't help much in letting you stay and work.

The story of the internship (or in Dutch: "stage") in France sounds almost thesame, except that this was a real company that could be taken legal action against.
It's good that you found another internship there.

I think that in many of these situations, where you get scammed in some way by a company, there is little you can do about it but to file a police report.
To my knowledge, the problem is that these companies know exactly where they stand and what you can and can't do about it.

Bottomline is that if you're going to depend on a person or company for something important, it would be wise to investigate that company/person first. See what type of reputation they have, if you can find complaints about them, and maybe if they have certain certificates and what those certificates mean.

Scamming unfortunatly is something that happens to the best of us, simply because most times it's well thought-through and planned by the scammer.

[Liara Covert]

It's funny, back 12 years ago when I did obtain the problematic Dutch work permit, I did verify the legitimacy of the company beforehand through the Dutch Embassy. That situation didn't appear it was a scam until later, once I was in the country and supposed to start work. I couldn't do much then (other than laugh and develop resourcefulness).

The French situation was different. The government organisation that hired me later was legitimate, but my employer decided that she didn't like me and found a way to get out of payng me just because she could. It wasn't a situation where I needed to look into government scams because it was an Embassy.

The current situation I have been asked to look into concerns a company. The visa of the foreigner is legitimate but the company director who refuses to pay is dishonest. My own experience is that legal systems are not always helpful, but I will pass your ideas on.